--- title: "How Americans view key members of the Trump administration" description: "A 58% majority say they have an unfavorable view of President Donald Trump, and 40% have a favorable view." date: "2026-02-12" authors: - name: "Ted Van Green" job_title: "Research Analyst" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/ted-van-green/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/12/how-americans-view-key-members-of-the-trump-administration/" categories: - "Donald Trump" - "Political Parties & Polarization" --- # How Americans view key members of the Trump administration ![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26_02_12_trump-approval_featured.jpg?w=640) *Clockwise, from center: President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Vice President JD Vance. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP, Mandel Ngan/AFP, Heather Diehl, Andrew Harnik, Jim Watson-Pool, all via Getty Images)* Americans have more negative than positive views of the president and key members of his administration. ### Americans see several key Trump administration officials more negatively than positively *% who have a(n) __ opinion of ...* | Person | group | Unfavorable | Favorable | Never heard of this person | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Donald Trump | pres/vp | 58% | 40% | 1% | | JD Vance | pres/vp | 52% | 38% | 9% | | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | cabinet | 48% | 44% | 6% | | Marco Rubio | cabinet | 44% | 34% | 19% | | Pete Hegseth | cabinet | 41% | 26% | 31% | Note: No answer responses are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026. A 58% majority say they have an unfavorable view of **President Donald Trump**, and 40% have a favorable view, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 8,512 U.S. adults, conducted Jan. 20-26. By a similar margin, the public also has a more negative than positive view of **Vice President JD Vance:** 52% view him unfavorably, while 38% have a favorable opinion. About one-in-ten (9%) say they have not heard of Vance. **About this research** This Pew Research Center analysis looks at how the Americans feel about President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other key members of the Trump administration. **Why did we do this? ** Pew Research Center does research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. Our research on presidents dates back to the 1980s and has continued through the current Trump administration. Learn more [about Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/about/) and our [politics research](https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/politics-policy/). **How did we do this? ** We surveyed 8,512 U.S. adults from Jan. 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the [survey questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26_02_12_trump-approval_questionnaire.pdf), the [detailed responses](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26_02_12_trump-approval_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/02/04/trump-economy-methodology/). Americans also view three other key administration officials more negatively than positively, though sizable shares are not familiar with some of them: - About half of adults (48%) have an unfavorable view of **Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,** while 44% have a favorable view. Few (6%) have not heard of him. - **Secretary of State Marco Rubio** is also viewed more unfavorably (44%) than favorably (34%). About two-in-ten (19%) say they have not heard of him. - Americans are less familiar with** Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.** About a third (31%) say they have not heard of him. Still, more hold an unfavorable view (41%) than favorable view of him (26%). #### How Republicans and Democrats view key administration officials Nearly eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (79%) have a favorable view of Trump, while 20% have an unfavorable view. ([These ratings largely parallel his job approval rating](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/confidence-in-trump-dips-and-fewer-now-say-they-support-his-policies-and-plans/).) By wide margins, Republicans also view the other administration officials in our survey more positively than negatively. Similar to Americans overall, Republicans are more familiar with some of them (Vance, Kennedy) than others (Rubio, Hegseth). Large majorities of Democrats say they have unfavorable views of Trump and the other administration officials asked about in the survey. ### Republicans view several administration officials positively, while Democrats see them negatively *% who have a(n) __ opinion of ...* | Respondent Party | Person | Unfavorable | Favorable | Never heard of this person | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rep/Lean Rep | Donald Trump | 20% | 79% | 1% | | Dem/Lean Dem | Donald Trump | 93% | 6% | 1% | | Rep/Lean Rep | JD Vance | 18% | 75% | 6% | | Dem/Lean Dem | JD Vance | 84% | 6% | 9% | | Rep/Lean Rep | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | 20% | 74% | 5% | | Dem/Lean Dem | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | 78% | 16% | 5% | | Rep/Lean Rep | Marco Rubio | 16% | 64% | 19% | | Dem/Lean Dem | Marco Rubio | 75% | 7% | 17% | | Rep/Lean Rep | Pete Hegseth | 14% | 52% | 33% | | Dem/Lean Dem | Pete Hegseth | 68% | 4% | 27% | Note: No answer responses are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026. *Note: Here are the [survey questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26_02_12_trump-approval_questionnaire.pdf), the [detailed responses](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26_02_12_trump-approval_topline.pdf) and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/02/04/trump-economy-methodology/). *